ALEXANDRE PATO

Alexandre Rodrigues da Silva (born 2 September 1989), commonly known as Alexandre Pato or simply Pato, is a Brazilian professional footballer who plays as a striker for Italian Serie A club Milan and the Brazilian national team. His nickname, Pato, refers to his place of birth, Pato Branco, it is also a reference to his nickname "the duck", the literal translation of pato in Portuguese.

Early careerHe started playing indoor football in his hometown at the age of three. Soon, his ability became known all around the south Brazilian state of Paraná for being a skillful and talented goal scorer and, after being praised by many of his managers, the teenager went to Porto Alegre, Rio Grande do Sul, to try out for Grêmio. He was turned away by Grêmio, the club whom he had supported since a boy – but local rivals Internacional convinced him to play for them. Despite the two clubs being bitter enemies, Pato’s parents convinced their youngster to switch his allegiance.

Pato said in an interview with the Brazilian television program, Esporte Espetacular that at age 11, he broke his arm and while examining the injuries, doctors found a tumour in the arm and feared the arm needed to be amputated. A successful operation removed the tumour

After gaining prominence at club level, Pato was called up for the youth teams of Brazil. He helped Brazil win the 2007 South American Youth Championship, which qualified the country for the 2007 FIFA U-20 World Cup, and was selected by Brazil coach Dunga for the 2008 Summer Olympics.He scored his first goal for the senior Brazilian team on his debut against Sweden at the Emirates Stadium in England on 26 March 2008, beating Pelé's record of scoring a goal within seconds of his full international debut. He was not called by Dunga to play the 2010 World Cup, but was called up for Brazil's 2-0 friendly win over the United States where he scored the second goal. He scored the second goal in Brazil's 3-0 win against Iran on 7 October 2010. Patos success in the Brazil national team continued as he again scored in a friendly match against Ukraine where they won 2-0.

Personal lifeSince 2007, Pato had been engaged to Brazilian actress Sthefany Brito. They mutually split up in January 2009 due to their inability to keep a long-distance relationship. However, they got back together, and on 7 July 2009, they married in a ceremony at the Copacabana Palace in Rio de Janeiro.However, the marriage lasted less than ten months, and the couple divorced on 21 April 2010, with Brito citing Pato's constant partying as the reason for their split.